The oil industry would like us to believe that they have implemented safety and process improvements that will prevent future problems. Yet they cannot stop making excuses. While many in the industry say that the disaster was a "fluke" compared to "safely" producing from more than 14,000 off-shore wells, most also echo Randall Luthi of NOIA in nearly the same breath:

The offshore industry has already made changes in procedures and practices based on the lessons learned thus far and in response to new regulations.

The heads of the other oil majors also suggest that if Macondo had been their well there would not have been an accident because their companies would have done things differently. Well which is it? An unlucky happenstance? Something they would never do (even if others would)? Something they wouldn't do again but have already corrected their procedures so they can (and of course will)?

Like shifty thugs caught at the scene of the crime, the oil companies and their contractors are each trying desperately first to say nothing happened, and second, that even if something did, it was by someone else in their tawdry gang, not them! Yet even as they continue pointing fingers at each other, the consistent underlying message is a much simpler one: trust us.

Um, I don't think so, and Bartlit's report will likely show just how untrustworthy they are.